1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of managing speech applications, and in particular, to an improved "What Can I Say" function.
2. Description of Related Art
The What-Can-I-Say (WCIS) function is critical to speech product usability. WCIS is important even for experienced users. Even though a user's dependence may decrease as the user gains experience, there are always instances when even the most experienced user wants to know how to issue a voice command and whether or not a particular action is voice-enabled. The use of WCIS information is especially fundamental to a speech recognition application, where its usability is of major concern. All users, regardless of experience level, find usability value in the WCIS function.
Previous versions of speech products had WCIS functions. The problem with these previous versions is that the functionality was too complicated for the user to find the voice commands they were looking for. In the Simply Speaking Gold application, for example, the WCIS window used tabs for the different categories of commands. When the number of tabs exceeds four or five, the name of the command becomes harder to see and the overall look is very cluttered. Subcategories were indicated by using the "+" and "-" signs.
In previous designs of WCIS, all voice commands were shown even if it was otherwise quite evident to the users what the commands were. Previous versions of WCIS showed the complete menu structure of an application even though to navigate a menu item was as simple as saying the menu name. The same is true of buttons. This approach resulted in a very complicated structure for users to find voice commands.